Poetry, little mags, small presses, and transient documents from the mimeo era and beyond

A Little History of the Mimeograph Revolution

Conclusion

In 1982, Grove Press published The Postmoderns: The New American Poetry Revised. Edited by Donald Allen and George F. Butterick, this anthology confirms the prophecy of its predecessor. In the opening sentence of its introduction, it boldly proclaims its intention “not to deal comprehensively with the full range of recent American poetry but with that poetry written in America since the Second World War which, by its vitality alone, became the dominant force in the American poetic tradition.” It is this vitality which is the unifying element in all the various intertwined and tangled schools and movements described above. In the heyday of the mimeo revolution it was called “the indomitable spirit,” and it is our hope that this collection will serve as a vivid reminder for those who were there, and as a source of inspiration for poets and publishers now and of the future. As William Carlos Williams reminds us,

“It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.”

Donald Allen and George F. Butterick, eds., The Postmoderns: The New American Poetry Revised (New York: Grove Press, 1982).